https://www.cybersport.ru/counter-strike-go/articles/zavisimost-ot-s1mple-sudba-flamie-i-rasshirenie-sostava-pyat-voprosov-k-navi-v-novom-godu

What awaits NAVI with the return of LAN tournaments?

Last year, there was only one major tournament in the LAN format – IEM Katowice 2023. There was not a single squad at that championship that could oppose Natus Vincere in terms of the level of play. In the semifinals of that tournament, NAVI met with perhaps the best team in CS: GO history – Astralis– but she also managed to take only eight rounds for two cards. After the triumph in Poland, there was not a single critic left who could argue with the thesis that the new NAVIs are one of the main contenders for the victory at the next Major. But the plans for the team from the CIS were pretty spoiled by the coronavirus, which made it impossible for the squad to perform in large arenas.

With the transition to online, the team went from bad to worse. Failures in the local qualifiers and at times disgusting individual play of the members of the roster once again brought back to the surface the idea that NAVI are capable of lighting up at one tournament, but they start to stumble at a distance. By the end of the year, the team returned to the top, the players got in shape and were able to take prizes at several major tournaments, but the fans of Natus Vincere did not feel the taste of a big victory for almost a year. The creation of several vaccines against coronavirus gives a modest hope that LAN tournaments will finally return in 2023. Will NAVI be able to show the same level of play as at the beginning of last season, or is the team’s online results not an accident?

Will the team stay as dependent on s1mple’s results?

Last year Alexander s1mple Kostylev still by a huge margin remained the best Natus Vincere player on the server, as indicated by his individual statistics – the highest rating (1.29) among all team members from the world’s top 10. During the quarantine period, the Ukrainian played several matches with negative statistics, and many complained that the esportsman communicates too often with the streamer crowd, but a couple of days of training, and Kostylev once again silenced all the haters. In the first weeks of January, the entire CS: GO community monitors the announcement of the rating of the best players of the year according to HLTV.org, and s1mple with a 99% probability will get into the top 2. It is unlikely that a Ukrainian will lead the list, the team achievements of his main competitor Mathieu are too tipping the scales. ZywOo Erbo.

In 2023, Kostylev will turn 24, and the stellar sniper is gradually moving into the second half of his esports career. Late last year, the organization confirmed that it had renewed contracts with s1mple and electronic, which means that in the next pursuit of the Major’s Cup, the Ukrainian goes as part of NAVI. One of the main questions of the upcoming season that excites the hearts of fans – will the team continue to depend so much on the level of play of its main star, or will we be able to see stability in the performances of all members of the roster? We will find out very soon.

What’s in store for flamie in the new year?

April will be six years old Egor flamie Vasiliev performs under the tag Natus Vincere. The Russian joined the team under the leadership of Daniel Zeus Teslenko was the only one who “survived” the gradual restructuring of the team. Since 2017, Vasiliev’s individual statistics have been gradually going down, and the past year has become the worst in his career. Flamie finished 2023 with a rating of 0.97, but the esportsman has a rather substantial excuse – last year, for the first time in the history of the professional CS: GO scene, there were no majors at which the Russian consistently shows decent performances. At the most important tournaments, Vasiliev’s average rating is 1.11, but, nevertheless, the esportsman can hardly add last year to his asset.

At the end of 2023, Natus Vincere’s roster has experienced what all top teams will surely expect in the new year – the roster was expanded to six people, and the club’s management has repeatedly stated that it does not plan to stop there. It was Vasiliev who went from the main lineup to the rotation, which did not surprise the fans. For the moment flamie gives way B1t in the team only on Inferno, but who knows what the coming year has in store for us. We will look forward to future announcements of NAVI and, of course, the Major, in which, we hope, Vasiliev will convince critics that he is still worthy to play at the highest level.

Will Boombl4 handle the pressure?

Last season was a season of contrasts for Natus Vincere’s in-game leader Kirill Boombl4 Mikhailova. At the beginning of 2023, especially at IEM Katowice 2023, it seemed that NAVI had finally found what they had been looking for all these years – a captain who could not only lead a team, but also show impressive individual statistics. In Poland, Mikhailov lit up so that sparks flew: the Russian destroyed his rivals, laughed merrily during the most important moments of matches and called his opponents “meat”.

With the onset of the online era, the in-game leader’s business declined sharply, and at the end of the year, the player’s average rating was 0.98. Many CS: GO experts, including Arseny ceh9 Trinozhenko, associated the player’s individual failures with the presence of some internal barriers and advised the esports player to work with more experienced leaders. Whether Boombl4 will be able to overcome these difficulties, the upcoming season will show. At the end of last year, Mikhailov said that he did not experience any problems with motivation, which means that we have every right to expect bright highlights from him and even more frags with Zeus x27 in 2023.

M0NESY is the new s1mple?

Ilya m0NESY Osipov – the main opening of the year on the professional CS: GO scene in the CIS. The last player who caught the attention of the entire community at such a young age (Osipov is 15) is s1mple. Over the years, the high level of individual performance of m0NESY did not go unnoticed by the top organizations: since January last year, Osipov has been playing in the junior composition of Natus Vincere – NAVI Youth. In addition to a contract with one of the most famous clubs in the world, m0NESY received an invite to the closed league of professional players – FACEIT Pro League, where the young cybersports player has the opportunity to gain experience from the best players in the world every day.

In 2023, Osipov and his team played at tier-3 tournaments, so the average rating of 1.14 is hardly worth taking seriously, but the 15-year-old Russian has already received praise from colleagues and the coach of his team many times. Amiran ami Rekhviashvili… The main difference between m0NESY and s1mple is that the Russian practically does not tilt, for which Kostylev was famous in his youth. Osipov, on the other hand, is distinguished by his calmness and composure, which will certainly help him a lot when he finally gets to the tier-1 scene. In May, the e-sportsman will turn 16, and this will open the way for him to participate in all competitions. So far, the Russian has not joined the main roster of the club, but you and I know that the words of the management about the future expansion of the roster were said for a reason.